Expansible coat hanger



Allg- 24, 1954 A. D. BAKER ExPANsIBLE COAT HANGER Filed May 22, 1953 -I-llllll--llu Patented Aug. 24, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EXPANSIBLE COAT HANGER Arthur D. Baker, San Fernando, Calif.

Application May 22, 1953, Serial No. 356,663

2 Claims.

l This invention relates to expansible coat hangers and more particularly to a coat hanger the length of which can be varied to accommodate the hanger to garments of diierent sizes.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide an improved coat hanger which can be adjustably elongated and contracted to accommodate the hanger to garments of various sizes; which is frictionally held in its various positions of adjustment and utilizes the weight of garments supported thereon to resist change from selected Apositions of adjustment; which is of sucient thickness to avoid creasing or wrinkling garments supported thereon; and which is simple and durable in construction, economical to manufacture, easy to use, and neat and attractive in appearance.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a coat hanger illustrative of the invention with portions broken away and shown in cross section to better illustrate the construction thereof;

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

With continued reference to the drawing, the coat hanger comprises a symmetrically bowed shoulder bar, generally indicated at I 0, including constituent portions II and I2 in the form of longitudinally curved bars pivotally interconnected at adjoining ends for angular movement relative to each other about an axis substantially perpendicular to a plane including the longitudinal center lines of both of the bars II and I2. The bar Il has at its end adjacent the bar I2 an offset I3 projecting outwardly of thev convex side of the shoulder bar and provided at its distal end with an apertured tongue formation I4 ofreduced thickness and the bar I 2 has at its end adjacent the bar II an offset portion I5 projecting outwardly of the convex side of the shoulder bar and provided at its distal end and at the side thereof adjacent the oiset formation I3 of the bar II with a pair of spaced apart, apertured ears Il and I8 between which the tongue formation Ill is disposed. A pivot pin I9 extends through the registering apertures in the ears I'l and I8 and the tongue I4 to pivotally interconnect the bars II and I2 together for angular movement relative to each other.

Near its end remote from the bar I2 and at the inner or concave side thereof the barkI I is provided with spaced apart, apertured ear formations 20 and 2l and a rod 22 has one end disposed between these ear formations. A pivot pin 23 extends through registering apertures in the ears 20 and 2I and in the end portion of the rod 22 received betweenv these ears and pivotally connects the rod 22 at one end to the bar I I at the corresponding end of the shoulder bar Ill.

The bar I2 is provided near its end remote from the bar I I and at the inner or concave side thereof with a pair of spaced apart, apertured ear formations 2li and 25 and a rod 26 has one end thereof disposed between these ear formations and pivotally connected thereto by a pivotpin 2l extending through registering apertures in the ears 24 and 25 and in the end portion of the rod 2t disposed between these ear formations. A tube 28 is disposed between the ends of the shoulder bar I0 of the hanger and slidably receives the rods 22 and 26, these rods having a suiiicient frictional engagement with the tube 28 to tend to hold the bar portions II and I2 of the shoulder bar I@ in selected positions of angular adjustment relative to each other.

A stem 30 constituted by a length of heavy Wire extends transversely through the shoulder bar Ii) at the adjacent ends of the constituent bars I I and I2 of the shoulder bar and has on one end an eye formation 3l whichy receives the tube 28 intermediate the length of this tube; A hook formation 32 is provided 'on the other end of the stem and is disposed outwardly of the side of the shoulder bar Iii remote from the tube 28 and spaced from the distal ends of the offsets I3 and I5 of the bars Hand I2. i

The end of the bar I2 adjacent the bar II is provided with a notch 33 which extends longitudinally of the corresponding end of the bar IZ and through which the stem 3l] extends to provide freedomof angular movement of the bar I2 relative to the bar I I without interference by the stem.

The stem 30 is freely slidable through the shoulder bar I0 and, when the hanger is suspended by the hook 32 and supports a garment thereon, the stem 30 pulls upwardly on the intermediate portion of the tube 28 applying a bending force to the assembly including the tube 28 and the rods 22 and 26 which releasably locks the bars II and I2 in selected position of angular adjustment relative to each other.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

l. An expandible coat hanger comprising a pair of longitudinally curved bars pivotally interconnected at adjoining ends for relative angular movement about an axis perpendicular to a plane including the longitudinal center lines of both of said bars and together constituting a bowed shoulder bar of the hanger, rods pivotally secured each at one end to said shoulder bar one at each end of the latter and extending toward each other from the corresponding ends of the shoulder bar, a tube disposed between the ends of said shoulder bar and slidably receiving said rods, and a stem extending through said shoulder bar adjacent the pivotal connection between the constituent portions thereof and having on one end an eye formation receiving said tube and on its other end a hook formation spaced from the edge of said shoulder bar remote from said tube, said shoulder bar being expandible and contractible by relative angular movement of the constituent portions thereof about the pivotal connection therebetween and said stem being effective when subjected to the Weight of a garment on said hanger to apply a bending force to the tube and rod assembly and thereby releasably lock the constituent portions of said shoulder bar in selected positions of angular adn justment relative to each other.

2. An expandible coat hanger comprising a bowed shoulder bar including a pair of constituent portions of substantially equal length pivotally interconnected at adjoining ends for relative angular movement about an axis disposed substantially perpendicular to a plane including the longitudinal center line of said shoulder bar, an assembly connected between the ends References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 30 Number Name Date 1,111,147 Fogde Sept. 2-2, 1914 2,513,980 Widman July 4, 1950 2,605,942 Warren et al Aug. 5, 1952 

